Gates The Comic by Hal Hefner, Presented by Heavy Metal

GATES is a new science fiction, online comic, written and illustrated by comic artist  Hal Hefner. It is the first webcomic ever presented by Heavy Metal Magazine and includes a soundtrack in homage to the 1981 film, Heavy Metal.

It officially launched on January 1, 2011 and is be updated on weekly basis, with a new comic art page, every Tuesday.  In addition to the comic book page on Tuesday, articles and other content including everything from backstory to Gates, to tips on how to get a job as an artist will be posted.

More information about the publication schedule and instructions on how to navigate through and read the comic are also located on the website.

Gates been covered in Wired magazine, MTVGeek, deviantART and more.

GeekChic Daily called the Gates comic book, “Dr. Moreau meets 1984. On acid.”

SYNOPSIS :::

GATES is a young man living a wretched existence in an isolated colony of humans. Deep within the caverns of an industrial mountain complex, his society is ruled by a totalitarian government called the ConGenement–who controls all facets of life.

The ConGenement manages the colony’s reproduction process and all people are procreated genetically susceptible to drugs that dull free thinking. Ambition-less citizens believe that life cannot exist outside of the colony’s confines and are obliviously obedient slaves to their ConGenement masters.

But Gates is special—He was conceived naturally, in secret. Unlike other citizens Gates thinks independently because his body is immune to any affects that the ConGenement regulated drugs induce. Gates has avoided ConGenement detection until recently when he is forced into a shaky partnership with a crooked ConGenement official who has uncovered his secret. In a quest to prove that life exists outside of the colony, plans go awry and Gates and two unsuspecting participants, ADRIA and KANO, are stranded in a forbidden land that is not supposed to exist.

What they discover is a twisted, alien environment flourishing with life and dominated by SOLOMAN – a nightmarish, god-like overlord. With his organic plant based technology, Soloman captures the three humans and is instantly obsessed with the experimentation of them and the extermination of mankind.

While in Soloman’s clutches, Gates and Adria are befriended by an ANIMOID (hybrid human-animal) named NEKTU. Believing that Gates is a figure from his tribe’s legends, he engineers an escape from Soloman’s fortress. As they escape, Gates steals Soloman’s SCARAB SEED, which is the source of his power. While on the treacherous journey outward through the catacombs of the fortress they also discover hundreds of Soloman’s cloned bodies. Gates, Adria and Nektu battle their way out and retreat into the lush, untamed jungle of the planet.  But Soloman wants his scarab seed back at all costs and sends an army of Animoid slaves to hunt for the tribe, Gates and Adria.

Nektu leads Gates and Adria to his tribe, who adopt the humans and show them a new way of life. They struggle to survive but for the first time in their lives experience what it means to truly be alive. Soloman remains hidden away in his fortress, weakened by the loss of his scarab seed and anticipating its return so he can destroy the human race once and for all.

In a climactic battle, the fate of the entire world is at stake. Facing annihilation, Gates must use the power of the scarab seed to become one with nature and something more than human to defeat Soloman.

THE THEMES OF GATES THE COMIC :::

Gates is an epic tale of discovery on a scale that can only be compared to Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings saga. In the tradition of ancient mythologies—Gates is a chronicle of high adventure addressing ideas of identity, society, politics, and philosophy. Gates also pontificates more modern concerns, commenting on the relevant topics of environmentalism, Darwinism, creationism, and the unchecked dangers of irresponsible scientific and technological experimentation.

At its most basic level, Gates is a story about the evolution of humanity.

Gates is forced to answer very universal questions:

• Who am I? Who are we?

• Where did we come from?

• And what will we become?

It is the ultimate tale of man vs. nature and nature vs. technology.

Written by Hal Hefner, Illustrated by Hal Hefner (C) Copyright 2009, 2010, 2011
Based on a story and characters by Hal Hefner and David Hirsch